


Captured by Darkness

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 16:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12324486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Fripp fails to rescue you from Darko.





	Captured by Darkness

As you jump through the portal, you are quite certain that a tentacle had just curled itself around your horse's back hoof. You'd felt the pain, you think, through the magical soul bond you share with your Soul Steed, and surely your horse stumbled forward a little when the tentacle made contact. But you cannot be sure, nor can you bear to look. For if you look back, you might see the tentacles coming for you.

No, it is better to look forward as your horse's hooves land on the solid and sacred ground of the Secret Stone Circle. But then, there are questions, questions that wash over you as you sit there on your horse, panting and trying to get your bearings. You are here, back on Jorvik, you are safe. Your horse is with you, you can feel it between your legs and beneath your fingers as you pet its mane.

"Where's Anne? Why isn't she with you?" Alex asks.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" asks Lisa.

"What was it like in there?" asks Linda, all three of them moving forward to speak with you. But Fripp jumps in front of them.

"Stop! All of you, let her breathe," says Fripp. "It is quite clear that something has frightened her. Something dark, something pink, something evil." You nod as your heart tries to escape your chest by bursting out of your ribcage.

"He's coming," you say, trembling all over.

"Who is? Mr Sands? Buck? Garnok?" asks Alex, lighting up her fists with magic as a lightning rune flares to life beneath her. You shake your head, wishing that you weren't so tongue-tied with fear.

"Darko," you finally manage to say, shuddering at the thought of the evil being who'd chased you through Pandoria and the magic corridor. "He's coming, he chased me the whole way here."

"Then we must close the portal at once!" says Fripp. "Quickly, dismount and remove the keystone!" You follow Fripp's orders, dismounting your horse and walking around to the other side of the keystone's pedestal. You carefully reach into the magic field. Linda gasps, which just makes your heart pound harder and your hands shake more.

"Quick! He's-" she begins, but a deep voice cuts her off with a chuckle.

"Right here," a dark voice finishes as the air seems to ripple. You turn around, still shaking, and are just in time to see him step off of the tentacles that he clearly rode in on. Darko looks much more imposing now, no matter how much of a showpony he just looked like when he stepped off the tentacles. And no matter how... well, there's no denying how attractive he is, if one just overlooks how high his forehead is. But after he sent tentacles after you, you just can't find it in you to like him. Sorry, Darko. We can't date because you tried to kill me. No hard feelings.

It feels so wrong to have Darko here, in the Secret Stone Circle with the tentacles of what he called Garnok waving behind him.

"Darko!" Fripp snaps, leaping up onto the keystone pedestal. Fortunately, the keystone is not knocked from its magical field. If you remember correctly (though it seems like that happened such a long time ago), knocking the keystone from its magical field would cause terrible things to happen. "You should not be here. Leave this place." Darko laughs.

"Well then, little squirrel, perhaps you should have better wards here," says Darko. "It was really quite easy for me to get in here. Almost too easy. Which is a shame. You used to be a much better adversary. Well, no matter. I shall just take what I came for and then get on with my day, shall I?"

"I will not let you take the keystone," says Fripp. He looks at you. "Take it!" You try, but suddenly, you can't move. A red glow surrounds you, and you see a similar red glow surround your horse as it neighs and tries in vain to get to you.

"What did you do to her?" Alex snarls, trying to step forward. Darko waves his hand and, in an instant, all three Soul Riders and their steeds are surrounded by that same red glow. They cry out in anger, but all three of them look different. Alex looks angry, as you'd expect, her glowing fists dribbling sparks of light down that patter against the stone and then die. Linda looks resigned, like she'd expected this. And she can see the future, so perhaps she did see this happening. It would have been nice of her to warn you, but you cannot find it in you to be mad at her right now. Not when this might very well be how you die.

And Lisa... she looks terrified. And you suddenly remember that Anne is trapped in a crystal in Pandoria, so Lisa must have been, too. And to be rendered immobile like this, only able to look and listen and speak, and not able to move... it must be bringing back the most horrible memories for her. It tears at your heart, and you wish that you could help her. Save her, somehow. But you cannot even save yourself this time. And there is nobody coming to save you. Your only salvation is as trapped as you are.

"Oh, but it's not the keystone I want," says Darko with a laugh. He moves his fingers, and suddenly, a tentacle wraps around your torso, hauling you up into the air.

"No!" you scream, kicking legs that can now move. But it is in vain. You cannot escape the tentacle, no matter how much you try to move your arms. It wraps around you tighter, crushing your ribcage, and you struggle for every breath. Your legs fall still, and Darko chuckles.

"This is what you get for not teaching your most important Soul Rider about her powers before now," says Darko.

"You can't have her, she is far too important!" says Fripp.

"Oh, I know that," says Darko. "Were she with us, she would have been learning about her abilities from day one. But instead, here, she has languished. Helping the residents of Jorvik while you all sit on your thumbs."

"We were teaching her compassion," says Fripp. "And patience."

"Testing it, more like," you mutter, and Darko laughs.

"Oh, it is too bad that I cannot train you now," says Darko. "But I will be leaving now with my prisoner. Farewell, Fripp."

"No!" Fripp cries, and lunges for you. Darko flicks a spell back at him, a red magic like fire flying from his fingertips, and Fripp stumbles. The keystone is knocked from its magical field, and you hear seven gasps in unison.

As the last tentacle carries you through the portal, you can see the Secret Stone Circle begin to rumble. And then it is gone as the portal carries you through to the void.

"What's happening back there?" you ask, not knowing if Darko will tell you but needing to know all the same.

"Did Fripp not tell you?" asks Darko. He clucks his tongue. "Typical. He never told you anything else, why should he tell you this?"

"What do you mean?" you ask. You can feel terror growing, and you can't tell where it's coming from. You are afraid, sure, but why should your horse be so afraid? Is it afraid for you?

"Well, he did not tell you that you are Aideen, so why should he tell you that the keystone will explode quite violently, plunging everyone into the void, if it is knocked from its magical field without being properly removed?" says Darko.

"What?" you ask again, and you suddenly understand the fear and terror, and why everyone had gasped, and-

A sudden, fiery pain rips through you, and you scream as your skin feels like it's disintegrating, burning up, flaking off, like your bones are being atomised. Darko looks alarmed for a moment, but then he pulls himself together and just watches as your back bows with the pain and you try once more to escape your bonds. You feel like something has just exploded beside you, and a sudden crazy thought that you didn't go far enough away from the dynamite drifts through your head.

But then it is gone, and so is the pain, and you sag against the tentacle. But something else is gone, too.

You can no longer feel your horse. There is a pain, an aching void, where your horse used to reside in your heart and mind and even your very soul. You feel weak, suddenly, so very weak that it is an effort even to keep your eyes open. You only want to sleep, but you know that the ache will keep you awake for a long time to come. And surely, you cannot sleep when tears are running down your face like this.

"Amazing," says Darko, and you wonder at how he can sound so in awe when you feel like a piece of your body has just been torn from you, gone forever. "I have never actually witnessed a Soul Rider bond being broken before. Tell me, how does it feel?" You cannot answer Darko, and it is not just because you do not want to. Your throat feels tight, and you know that if you did try to speak, you would only start sobbing. Or perhaps wailing.

"Alright then," says Darko, after you do not speak. "I do like the sound of my voice. And that is not sarcasm, by the way, I do so love the sound of my own voice. I can monologue for hours." And you let him monologue, because you cannot speak. His words wash over you for the most part, though, blurring into white noise as you struggle to come to terms with the massive loss that you have just felt.

"I've known who you are all along, Aideen," says Darko, while you close your eyes and wish for the pain to stop. "I felt your presence quite clearly on the oil rig. And yet, you had no idea of your true potential all this time. The druids have wasted you, trying to teach you morals before they teach you magic. Why, at your current age, you should know at the very least basic healing spells. You would have been a decent adversary! But no. You are weak and could not even break out of a basic paralysis spell. Why, were you stronger, you would even have been able to save your horse." That breaks into your thoughts, and you finally vocalise a wail. You know how pathetic you look, being dragged along like a particularly odd-looking balloon, but you cannot find it in you to care.

Pandoria is still the deep, blackish purple of a bruise, and you hate that Darko has ruined such a beautiful place. The Manta Rays still fly around, looking quite happy despite the tentacles lazily waving in the air. You envy them their happiness.

You are already so depressed that, by the time Anne's aura of sadness hits you, you barely notice it. Darko casts a spell and drops you next to Anne's crystalline prison, where you lay unmoving. Your tears drip onto the ground, and, very soon, they plink onto pink crystal. You don't care. You don't even care when the pink crystal crawls up your legs and over your body, pinning your arms to your sides. Now, you could not move even if you wanted to. Soon, the tears freeze to your face, trapped beneath pink crystal, and you experience a brief moment of panic when you realise that you won't be able to breathe in here. But then, just as quickly, you discover that you do not need to breathe in here. Despite the general awfulness of this place, Pandoria at least has the perk of not needing to do the basic things to keep a human body functioning.

Dark looks up at you for a moment, suspended in a large pink crystal beside Anne, and you can feel Anne looking at you too as Darko turns and walks away.

 _"I'm so sorry,"_ Anne whispers, her voice in your mind reminding you of better times. Your heart breaks all over again. _"You should not have come looking for me."_

You don't answer. The two of you hang in suspended silence, and you know that you will hang there for eternity now. But at least you will have company. And at least Anne is now no longer alone.


End file.
